Life

Striking the Elusive Work-Life-Training Balance

Expert tips for fitting triathlon into a busy life

by Lance Watson

Most triathletes were busy enough people before they decided to introduce a challenge that involves three sports in one! No doubt, training is a time-consuming pursuit, and our lives are more hectic than ever. The true challenge for many age-group triathletes is not that hard track workout, or long hours in the saddle or getting through a tough swim set—it’s balancing priorities of family, friends, career, and more on top of achieve lofty athletic goals.

The good news is you can have it all. Approached correctly, you should not only achieve your triathlon aspirations but also establish a platform of success in health, work, and life as a whole.

Here’s how to do it:

Take Your Time

This is a chosen sport–it’s not a chore or a job. It’s a passion, a hobby, a way of life. Success in triathlon always is about working the training schedule around your life. And by “life,” I mean family, relationships, friends, health and happiness—things that must not be pushed aside in order to complete that next session or reach your next goal. All too quickly birthdays are missed, milestones are forgotten, and weekends just aren’t the same anymore.

The goal is to hit just the right balance, so you hit realistic goals as a triathlete, while everything else in your life is manageable, too. Easier said than done! At the end of each day, make a brief assessment of your daily activities. How did you spend your time? Which parts of the day were the most or least productive? Are there activities or people in your day that don’t add value?

Take advantage of technology

Here are some apps that can help you find more time, balance and sanity while trying to juggle a lot.

Timeneye is a smart time tracking app for your busy working lifestyle. In addition to improving your time management, it provides effective project and team management functionalities and insightful reporting.

ATracker is another time-tracking device that is very easy to use. If you work well with lists, this is your app. A task list provides a simple overview of how you spend your time.

Headspace is billed as the “gym membership for your mind.” It's a mindfulness and meditation app that reportedly leads to increased happiness, compassion and better health and relationships.

Google Calendar Goals lets you create a goal and choose how much time you want to spend on it each week. Google Calendar automatically schedules time to work on your goal.

The Strides app helps you break down bigger goals into smaller, easier-to-achieve pieces, and allows you to see your progress over time.

Stress Less

Swim more laps, cycle more miles, run more reps. Train more. Be more. Have more. Want more. It's a familiar mindset with triathletes. But hopefully you don't become a slave to your training regime. Remember that triathlon is what you do, it is not who you are. Don’t fall into the trap that more is better and better is more. Do not compare yourself to other triathletes and do not judge other triathletes. Relax. Ask yourself: What is driving you? What is your why? What got you into this sport in the first place?

Hold on to your joy in racing. Remember that rush of simply finishing a race, or cheering for your friends, making memories, accomplishing a new goal, or the feeling of crossing a finish line. Continue to set big goals and dream big dreams, just remember not to stress about it and have fun!

Be realistic (i.e. you're not a pro)

In aspiring to be the best you can be in sport, it’s natural to look to those achieving great results. It’s common for amateur triathletes, as well as many coaches, to study the top-level professionals for inspiration, and to understand their winning approaches.

There are many things to learn about training and racing from the professionals, however it’s a mistake to attempt to mimic a professional approach at the amateur level. For professional triathletes, training is a full-time job. They will train more, recover more and put more time, effort, and resources towards triathlon than you ever will—and that’s to be expected! Your mindset starts with understanding the context of your life and how triathlon fits into it.

The best way to weave triathlon into your hectic life is to seek advice from an experienced coach. It is a coach’s role to understand your dreams and goals in triathlon and to create a personalized training program that fits within your daily lifestyle. Take a whole weight off of your shoulders and invest in a coach so they can invest in you.

Budget

Between the registration and travel costs, training, nutrition and gear, triathlon can get expensive. However, you don’t need the latest or most expensive gear, and chances are you have most of the essentials already: bathing suit, goggles, running clothes, running shoes, etc. As you move forward in the sport, it’s perfectly normal to slowly accumulate the right gear for you. Still, triathlon should not break the bank.

The most expensive piece of triathlon equipment is the bike. Consider buying a used bike from an experienced competitor, local online buy-sell pages or triathlon clubs are a good place to start your search.

Another money saving tactic is to race locally. The allure of destination races is tempting, but the added expense of transportation and hotel costs add up quickly. Find an event closer to home, for a budget friendly option which also allows you to have a great race experience.

Triathlon is what you do, it’s not who you are. It shouldn’t compromise your happiness or stop you from doing what you want in the rest of your life. Most importantly, have fun with it! You know you have found the ultimate balance when you are reaching goals in all parts of your life.

Lauren Babineau contributed to this article.

Lance Watson is an IRONMAN U Master Coach and LifeSport head coach. He has trained many IRONMAN, Olympic and age-group champions over the past 30 years and enjoys coaching athletes of all levels. Contact Lance to tackle your first IRONMAN or to perform at a higher level.

For more training tips, visit LifeSport Coaching on Facebook or on Twitter at #LifeSportCoach.